5 Secrets for Cooking Vegetarian Food

Easy tips to make delicious and satisfying vegetarian recipes.

Every cook should know the tricks to making meatless meals that really satisfy. That way even when you’re cooking for a
mixed crowd of vegetarians and meat lovers you can keep everyone happy. And for those carnivores at the table, you may be
doing their health a favor: people who reduce meat in their diet consume less saturated fat and cholesterol, more dietary
fiber and higher levels of folate, vitamins C and E, potassium and magnesium.

Here are our five secrets to cooking vegetarian recipes that everyone will love:

2. Slow Roast

When you slow-roast food, you remove the amount of water it contains, thereby intensifying the flavor and making the
texture chewier. (Think about the difference between a fresh tomato and a sun-dried tomato.) Cooked meat is about 55-65
percent water; while that sounds like a lot, compare it to veggies, which are 80-95 percent water. Roasting tomatoes for
the lasagna sauce makes the sauce taste more deep and savory.

3. Add Chewy Foods

Chewy foods like seared firm tofu, grilled mushrooms and nuts feel more filling because they take more time and effort to
eat than, say, a spoonful of broth. They also better mimic the way you chew meat—which makes them a more satisfying
substitution.

4. Include Umami Ingredients

The word umami, roughly translated as “delicious,” was coined by a Japanese scientist who discovered this fifth taste. He
found that the glutamate in foods can be detected by humans, giving food an appeal that is neither sweet, salty, sour nor
bitter (the other four tastes). Most people know glutamate from MSG (monosodium glutamate), the flavor enhancer
associated with Chinese-restaurant food. But it is also a naturally occurring and safe compound found in meat—as well as
many other foods. The process of fermentation enhances umami, which explains why soy sauce and aged cheeses like Parmesan
are so “savory.” Vegetables high in umami include asparagus, tomatoes, seaweed, peas, corn and onions. Soyfoods,
including tofu and edamame, and seaweed like dulse or arame are also good places to find umami. This stew layers on umami
with corn, tofu and miso.

5. Combine Flavors and Textures

Excite your palate by mixing textures and flavors. For example, in the risotto, above, creamy rice is offset with chewy
shiitake mushrooms and crisp asparagus. This burger balances the mushroom flavor against sweet onions and the punch of
blue cheese. No single component is as satisfying as the combination.